RICE LAKE, WI (July 20)  Tim McMann and Cory Karshbaum both has stories to tell after the racing action concluded Saturday night at Rice Lake Speedway. Winners in the two open wheel divisions at the speedway, both recorded their first ever Rice Lake wins in these open wheel classes. Adam Soltis took his first win of the year at Rice Lake also while other winners included Aaron Wilson and Jason Havel

The Modified main event saw Steve Hallquist jump into the early lead using the cushion to his advantage to race away from the field. The rest of the field was racing in tight action when, one lap into the race, one of the biggest crashes in recent years took place.

Battling for third, Buddy Mayala and Dave Baxter got together racing into turn one. They locked together and spun up the track, blocking most of the speedway as the balance of the field pounded into turn one. Before everyone could get slowed down, eleven cars stacked up in the corner with the damage varying from car to car. Three cars were eliminated with Jerry Weigel, Matt Leer and Mark Hessler all unable to continue. Many others sported sheet metal damage and a few made pit stops to make repairs.

When racing resumed, Hallquist again tore away from the field, opening up some distance over the pack. Meanwhile, McMann, Mark Hanson, Kevin Adams and Mayala had a great battle for second, with much three wide racing and jockeying of position. McMann eventually took the second spot while the other three continued to battle.

A yellow flag on lap ten slowed the action and changed the complexion of the race. Adams rolled to a halt with a flat tire which dimed his hopes of victory while Hallquist lost his sizable lead at the same time.

On the green, McMann moved up to challenge Hallquist for the lead and they raced side by side for the top spot. McMann was making the inside line work and he edged past Hallquist to take over the lead. Meanwhile, Pat Hoffman, who had started thirteenth, was on the move too, and he edged into the third spot and closed on Hallquist too.
A couple of late spins with two laps to go kept the pressure on, but McMann remained strong in his lane and he drove on for the win. Hoffman edged past Hallquist for second with Mayala claiming fourth and Adams tore back up through the field to complete the top five. For McMann, it was his first ever Modified win at Rice Lake and his first overall win at Rice Lake since a 1986 Late Model triumph.

Karshbaum didn’t have to wait nearly as long as McMann as the Chetek driver was making only his third start in a Midwest Modified this season after selling off all his Super Stock equipment and contemplating retirement. However, he got a great offer from Curt Myers that brought him back into the sport in an open wheel car for the first time, and after a couple of races to shake things down, he took advantage of a good starting position to bury the field Saturday.

After an opening lap spin, the race ran green to checkered and Karshbam quickly pulled away from Bryce Johnson to open up a margin on the field. Travis Anderson made a nice move to find second and he then tried to reel in Karshbaum. Tito and Ryan Viltz, along with Shane Halopka tried to make up ground after starting farther back in the field, but with the fast pace and no yellows to bunch the field, it was tough to make up ground.

Karshbaum continued to set a torrid pace and he actually started to put more distance on the field as the race progressed. At the finish line, he had a healthy margin over the field while Anderson settled for second over Tito and Ryan Viltz with Halopka following. Not only was it Karshbaum’s first win, he became the seventh different winner in the class in seven nights so far this year.

Soltis has had a bunch of top five finishes so far this year but until Saturday, had yet to crack victory lane. However, he changed that with a nonstop win which he led from start to finish. He inherited the lead when pole sitter Heidi Karshbaum dropped out on the parade lap, and he used the break to his advantage, quickly jumping into the lead and putting distance on the field. Chris Peterson and Sam Fankhauser were both on the move, having started in the third row but charging toward the front. Another moved was Doug Wojcik, who after starting ninth moved to the outside and started picking off cars on each lap.

However, with the race remaining under the green, it was tough catching the leader. However, Peterson started to make some progress late in the race and closed up as the white flag waved. In the final corner he got close enough to tap the leader, but that’s as close as anyone would come as Adam drove on for the win. Fankhauser settled for third ahead of Wojcik and Jay Kesan. Soltis became the sixth different winner in the class already this year.

Just as in the Modified feature, a yellow flag at midrace played a significant difference in the Super Stock feature. Shane Kisling had moved to the cushion immediately and after driving past Scott Zitelman and Jim Harris, had burst into the lead. He made the cushion work well as he pulled away from the field. Meanwhile, a great battle for second had broken out as Jason Forehand, from the third row and Wilson, from the fourth row, raced side by side for second. Lap after lap they battled side by side, but their race kept either from breaking lose and perhaps tracking down the leader while at the same time Eric Olson was trying hard to catch both of them.

Just as Wilson broke past Forehand, the yellow waved for a spin on lap twelve and cost Kisling his lead. On the restart, Wilson pulled up beside the leader and they raced side by side for the lead, Wilson on the low side and Kisling working the cushion. With less than five to go, Wilson edged ahead off turn four to take over the lead with Forehand then moving in to challenge too. Wilson continued his run and flashed under the checkered flag for his second victory of the year. Forehand finished second with a disappointed Kisling settling for third ahead of Olson and Zitelman.

After having seven different Pure Stock winners, Havel became the first repeat winner of the 2013 racing season. Havel got past early leader Hunter VanGilder and led the rest of the contest, a race that was slowed several times for minor spins. On each restart, Havel would put distance on VanGilder while a good battle raged for third with Rob Grabon and C.J. Wagner battling for position.

The last six laps ran nonstop and Havel once again pulled away to score a relatively easy win. Rookies VanGilder and Grabon finished second and third with Wagner and Jimmy Holden completing the top five.

Racing action continues Saturday, July 27 with another five division, point program scheduled to start with hot laps at 6:30 p.m. Then, on Tuesday, July 30, the much anticipated Street Stock Little Dream race will take place with Modifieds and Pure Stocks also on the card. Race time that night will be 7 p.m.